What if our souls or 'consciousnesses' are really parasities of our bodies?

Imagine the caveman with the knuckles scraping, living a life of survival. What if the spirit, which leaves the body upon death, was a wandering existance that was attracted to the energy field of the caveman and took up residence out of curiosity, or was stuck in the energy field and made do.

Perhaps living in a body is addictive, so more spirits were attracted to the energy of the human bodies, getting to experience life in flesh, and in turn pushing the bodies to do activities that would improve the life span of the body.

Perhaps sometimes, when a new human is created in the womb, instead of just one spirit attaching to the fetus, more than one attaches, creating a multiple personality in the resulting human being.

What do you think of that?

Carlotta

Who owns the land? Only the land knows. We mortals are passersby, and our lives are but a brief moment in the great span of time and space. We are born, we live out our lives, and most of us do the best we can with it, but the wind is forever, and the rivers flow forever to the sea, and all the seasons of the weathers will come and go after we are gone. But the Earth endures, the Earth is eternal" - Earl Hamner

This is an exciting and facinating notion. I agree with Tommy that it would make for a great novel or even a series of novels.

Do you see the parasites as immortal? Connecting & reconnecting to different bodies down through the ages? "Reincarnating" as it were?

I think there are better explanations for multiple personalities, but that is an interesting thought as well. I wonder how far this idea could be taken. I imagine that many mental diseases could be attributed to this in clever ways.

I do not believe in spirits or souls & the like, but this idea is really thought provoking.

Regards, Canis

"It is proper for you to doubt ... do not go upon report ... do not go upon tradition ... do not go upon hear-say." ~ Buddha

Interests:Serious Research and separating the truth from the hype in the paranormal field today.

Posted 04 November 2009 - 09:35 AM

Problem I see is where did the previous generation come from and where does the next generation go? Obviously the number of these parasites would need to increase as humanity multiplies, so what means of reproduction would the parasite use? There is no sign of any or we would have likely have observed it. And if one takes the position they move in and out of us as new humans are born, one would expect a more definitive sign of recalled previous lives. True some make this claim but they are in a small minority.

Perhaps parasite is a strong word, but how many times are we taught that when the body dies, the spirit is still alive? The spirit doesn't need the body to exist, but without the body the spirit cannot taste, smell, or feel. The developing human being's brain, way back when, may have reached a point where it created an energy field strong enough to attract a spirit wandering the universe. There are millions of spirits wandering the heavens, and there are millions of other solar systems. I assume the number of spirits is endless.

Who owns the land? Only the land knows. We mortals are passersby, and our lives are but a brief moment in the great span of time and space. We are born, we live out our lives, and most of us do the best we can with it, but the wind is forever, and the rivers flow forever to the sea, and all the seasons of the weathers will come and go after we are gone. But the Earth endures, the Earth is eternal" - Earl Hamner

curious, do you BELIEVE this idea, or are you just posing it to hear others thoughts? just asking. i personally think its an interesting idea but i cant say i believe it. doesnt make it any more or less true im just some guy, i could be wrong. though i hardly ever am. just kidding :]

curious, do you BELIEVE this idea, or are you just posing it to hear others thoughts? just asking. i personally think its an interesting idea but i cant say i believe it. doesnt make it any more or less true im just some guy, i could be wrong. though i hardly ever am. just kidding :]

but who knows?

It's an idea that's popped into my head based on all of the books on spirit possession, shamanism, and hauntings I've been reading, and the paranormal podcasts I've been listening to. It does turn the idea that we are our bodies on its head. I haven't fully developed a complete theory yet with footnotes and graphs because the thought just came to me. I don't think I'll develop a life-changing seminar with sweat lodge until next year.

I don't expect everyone to buy into the idea, but it intrigues me, and I wanted to throw it up for discussion.

Carlotta

Who owns the land? Only the land knows. We mortals are passersby, and our lives are but a brief moment in the great span of time and space. We are born, we live out our lives, and most of us do the best we can with it, but the wind is forever, and the rivers flow forever to the sea, and all the seasons of the weathers will come and go after we are gone. But the Earth endures, the Earth is eternal" - Earl Hamner

hahaha Soul is not a parasite, the body is actually created by the Soul for a purpose. Spiritually, the Soul is that part of the Universal Being that was detached from it and has grown gross. so as to merge back, it needs to go through those experiences which will help it to learn and evolve spiritually finer. The body is merely the five elements that is brought together for a specific time frame so that the Soul can "be alive" for the lessons.

But yes, there are entities that can be parasites in one's body, but that is a different story.

Thats a amazing thought, but I wouldnt consider your soul a paracite. That would make a amazing novel.. especially if it was a alien paracite trying to advance our civilization.. lol I hope to be reading a science fiction novel like this some day "hint hint"

if its not written by her il do it someday after i finish a series im trying to get going right now haha. but to anyone explaining what a "spirit is" doesnt exactly hold to this post in my opinion, because here is no factual proof of what a spirit is, it could be a piece of the universe that needs to get back, or a parasite, who knows. i dont agree with this statement as a fact or anything, i dont believe it, but respect carlotta's belief in the possibility of it, who knows?

It doesn't bother me at all if you don't believe or agree with what I'm putting forward as an idea. I didn't offer it as fact, but as a concept to discuss. I'm also not trying to push my beliefs on you, but I was hoping to have a discussion on the concept.

I don't see any way of fictionalizing this idea into a meaningful story. I'm not trying to propose a bodysnatchers scenario where consciousnesses take over a human body to commit evil acts. I advance the thought that at conception of the body or at least the brain cells that allow the consciousness to attach, it links in and becomes a part of the body.

How many times have you heard of someone who loses the limb, but can still have feeling where the limb would be? The consciousness still remembers the limb there, even though the body itself doesn't have the limb anymore. We keep saying that the mind is a powerful tool, and that it can push the body to do all sorts of incredible feats. Perhaps it's better to say that the consciousness is the master and the body the slave.

We're told that when the body dies, the consciousness lives on without it. Past lives deal with consciousnesses that experience life in different bodies over time.

For those who don't believe that there is life after death, all of this will sound like a fantasy. But if you agree about the fact that the consciousness lives on and that it can be reborn in another body, then would it not stand to reason that bodies are containers and that a consciousness enters at a certain moment while the fetus is in the womb.

It would also be a good rule of thumb that a body should have only one consciousness at a time, or there are conflicts of interest. Like too many cooks in the kitchen.

Who owns the land? Only the land knows. We mortals are passersby, and our lives are but a brief moment in the great span of time and space. We are born, we live out our lives, and most of us do the best we can with it, but the wind is forever, and the rivers flow forever to the sea, and all the seasons of the weathers will come and go after we are gone. But the Earth endures, the Earth is eternal" - Earl Hamner

through science phantom limbs have been proven, the brain still remembers it being there and so it compensates, there was one study years back where a dr. discovered that if you touched the patience's cheek, he felt the sensation as if you were touching his pinky. move toward his mouth and he would feel your finger trace over his hand(which wasnt there) all the way to the thumb. that of course is just proof that the mind is in control over the body, not proof or disproof, or even an argument to this theory.

as far as past lives go, my friend who is mormon explained to me that in their belief you dont go to hell, theres different levels of heaven and then theres a void outside of heaven(kind of like limbo) and the spirits who didnt "pass the test" of life waited in limbo until they were sent down with new souls to occupy a newly assigned body and more or less take a retest. i myself am not mormon, but this is as likely a scenario without the spirits being considered parasites or even uninvited guests, but rather the actual being in which our bodies are sheltering. i do agree that this is an interesting discussion, but wouldnt every hospital be insanely haunted with runbling ghosts in maternal wards? i would think if this very scenario were fact(which i know you are not claiming) we would have more of a following for it because maternity wards are heavily occupied and i think some sort of activity would have been sensed in literally every maternity ward, not to mention every pregnant woman.

The "Phantom Limb" is not a "remembering' act by the brain, but it is the actual limp in the energy (astral) body. And it is not the conciousness, but the Soul which is the master. The concious is merely the "memory stick" for all our actions - in deeds and thoughts - which otherwise we call Karmic bondage. The freeing of conciousness from the Soul is Moksha - or the moment when the Sould merges with the Source.

I enjoy getting to read different viewpoints about this phantom limb phemomena, so I guess I will throw mine into the mix as well.

I feel that there is no need to resort to mystical or spiritual explanations to account for phantom limbs.

The current best explanation is that feelings of phantom limbs are caused by the nerves and sensory receptors that remain in the body after the limb s gone. If you loose an arm, the nerves that allowed us to feel sensation in that arm are not entirely gone. A part of them remains between the stump & the brain & continues to function. The brain still receives signals and still tryies to interperet them as normal. However, the section of the brain that receives these signals is quite possibly confused, perceiving them as pain in many cases.

There is no evidence that the sensation of phantom limbs are caused by a soul, or our brain's memory or consciousness. They are caused by the same mechanism that all of our sensations of touch are caused by. That mechanism is still in place for the most part.

Regards, Canis

"It is proper for you to doubt ... do not go upon report ... do not go upon tradition ... do not go upon hear-say." ~ Buddha